X-Wing Vassal module v9.0.0 (Wave 7 & 8, sideslip, 4k compatibility)

Usual links

X-Wing guide to installing and playing:  xwvassal.info/guide

Module github download (fast) page: https://github.com/Mu0n/XWVassal/releases/

X-Wing Vassal league (new website!) (season 10 is ending soon) hub: 
https://listfortress.com/league

Vassalengine.org download page (1-2 day delay): http://www.vassalengine.org/wiki/Module:Star_Wars:_X-Wing_Miniatures_Game

Found a bug? Missing art? Please report it here or see if someone did already: https://github.com/Mu0n/XWVassal/issues

Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/mu0n

Paypal Tip jar: http://paypal.me/mu0n

Is it important to update to v9.0.0 or can I stick with v8.9.2 bottom line:

• Always update. You know that by now.

Cliffsnotes of this update?

• The Vassal client v3.3.2 is out after years (?) of being at v3.2.17. Most players have not upgraded yet. Details below
• Finally, 4k monitors won’t give you ridiculously small interface buttons
• A new key to summon the ship mouse interface for Mac users with Vassal v3.3.x
• Wave 7 and 8 ships are included with dials and at least 1 pilot
• Sideslip (introduced by the HMP Droid gunship upgrade card) mechanism working, mouse GUI, small ships only

New Vassal client v3.3.2, the good and the bad

The Vassal client was on v3.2.17 for YEARS. Most players are still with it, especially mac users after they found out some bugs affected them when they updated to v3.3.x. This is no longer a problem now with this new x-wing module.

Vassal website here: http://www.vassalengine.org/

This new major branch of the client program (the launcher of vassal module) has been updated with the hopes of finally addressing owners of 4k monitor (or more!) who saw their vassal java window icons, menus and various user interface elements very reduced in size proportionally to their screen. In Vassal 3.2.17, people either found a OS-related solution to circumvent it, or just accepted the smallness. I don’t really know since I only own a 1080p PC monitor.

However, the v3.3.x line (starting with v3.3.0) of the Vassal client addressed this and scaled the size of these elements accordingly to what Java detects as your monitor. This is GOOD! No more eye straining and misclicks on your shiny 4k monitor!

A problem appeared: that scaling factor messed with many Java programmed elements inside the X-Wing module, rendering a lot of stuff very unusable: autorange lines, barrel roll triple choices, mouse ship interface, etc.

This was fixed because I followed the Vassal devs’ suggestion and could test the rescaling with a special command given to me, despite not owning a 4k monitor. Let me know for sure, though, if it really works on a real 4k monitor if you’re lucky to own one.

Next, for some obscure (to me) reason, mac users can no longer make the ship mouse interface appear with a held ctrl key + left click of the mouse. This has transformed into the behavior normally reserved for a Windows “right click” context menu, which opens the deprecated old style menu with missing entries and such. Is it the Mac OS update which did this? Is it the forced migration from Java SDK 8 to SDK 11 forced by the update of the vassal client? I’m not sure, but I have a solution!

I added the rightmost alt-key + left click as a second way to summon the ship mouse interface. On the mac, this is the rightmost option-key + left click. I had a mac user confirm it works, hopefully it does for all mac users.

I’m 92% that both of these problems are solved; they were not that technically complicated, but I can’t be 100% sure because I don’t own a modern mac (my most recent mac is a Mac SE/30….) nor do I won a 4k monitor. Fingers crossed. You should also update your client to v3.3.2 or above at this point. Another useful reason to do it is that the Java runtime files are bundled with it, so no need for some rare users to mess with java versions downloaded from Oracle.

Wave 7 and 8, ships + dials in

With the dials all spoiled, I edited the community driven xwing-data 2 repo with at least a single pilot for all of the stuff that’s incoming in fall of 2020. All those ships can be spawned, with a working dial (with new purple tallon roll icons). The cards are placeholders while we wait for their official points to drop.

Sideslip, the nightmare brought by a single card

Repulsorlift Stabilizers.

The HMP Droid Gunship has a very new capability, sideslip movements. Basically, banks 1-2-3 and turns 1-2-3 are performed from the sides of the ship, while maintaining the heading of the ship towards the enemy. It can overlap obstacles like a regular movement (needs new code), it can overlap a ship and resolve itself with the autobumping (needs new code). I also dedicated the unused ship mouse interface to it for small ships.

@Mu0n:

Fall 2020 new stuff readiness

• Droid Tri-fighter: added ship + dial + entry in xwd2
• HMP Droid Gunship: added ship + dial + entry in xwd2
• Jango Fett’s Slave-I: added ship + dial + entry in xwd2
• Nimbus-Class V-Wing: added ship + dial + entry in xwd2
• LAAT/i gunship: added ship + dial + entry in xwd2
• Eta-2 actis: added ship + dial + entry in xwd2
• TIE/rb Heavy: added ship + dial + entry in xwd2
• Xi-Class Light Shuttle: added ship + dial + entry in xwd2
• New purple maneuvers added (tallon roll 2) for the eta-2 actis’ dial

New sideslip functionality

• Added 12 buttons in the (until now) unused ship mouse interface ‘page’ (leftmost button) with a HMP silhouette page button; only shows up for small ships, including 6 new images under photoshop (note: I didn’t do the original illustrator design nor am I a designer, Jomblr did it) 
• Calculated the translations and rotations for all 12 final positions for these movements
• Calculated the translations and rotations for all 12 template usage while this move is performed for obstacle overlap detection purposes
• Calculated the translations and rotations for all 12 collision aide templates when a ship to ship overlap occurs with sideslips (ie when ‘c’ is pressed)
• Calculated the partial movement when an autobump sideslip resolution has to happen and backtrack the ship

Vassal v3.3.2 (and 3.3.0 and 3.3.1) Bug Squashing:

• 4k monitor users can now enjoy normal sized (instead of tiny) java user interface buttons and menus while ALSO not mess up autorange + ship mouse interface + tallon rolls + various custom mouse interface that were added in the x-wing module.
• CTRL-Left click to bring out the ship mouse interface was bugged (it brought up the old style windows-right-click menu). Alt-left click was added in windows; which translates to option-left-click for mac users. Only the rightmost alt or option key works for windows and mac users respectively for some reason.

@Tsukuda_Joe:

Mac User test:

• Helped test out the new alt-left click to bring up the ship mouse interface with his Mac environment under Vassal v3.3.2